When Destiny calls

Tag to Episode 13 of Primeval

Many thanks to Faye Dartmouth who shared my obsession with James Murray and the show Chaos and for turning me on to this show so I can feel just as cheated (hee!) as she did about the ending of James Murray's run on it. I felt compelled to re-write Stephen's fate.

"STEPHEN!"

"Sorry, mate, I'm doing this one," Stephen said calmly, almost at peace, as if he were heading into another routine mission.

"NO! OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN IT!"

"Can't do it, Nick. Can't take the risk."

Stephen started walking backward, never breaking eye contact with his friend, the friend he should have trusted all along. Regret and loss filled his body and soul for the man he had fought beside without hesitation against all manner of beast and whom he had betrayed with a woman who wasn't worthy of either of them. If he had only realized that sooner, if only he hadn't given his trust and faith to someone he should have known would never change. It was all moot now. Though he could blame Cutter for abandoning him in his own way, had accused him of it when he had discovered Helen's lie, it would have been a waste of energy because now, as he faced his end, he had realized that he was the one controlling his actions. The only one he could blame for ending up there was himself, his destiny sealed by not having faith in himself and in a friend he did care about more than his own life. If he hadn't felt that, he never would have made the choice he had.

"STEPHEN! Open the door!"

"Tell Abby and Connor to stay out of trouble," his eyes never leaving the gaze of his friend and Cutter hadn't looked away either.

He took one last look at his friend and mentor. Cutter held the gaze as long as he could, but then couldn't watch his friend get ripped to shreds. He heard the blood curdling screams and all he could do was collapse to the floor. Helen had slipped away, unmoved by the moment, only thinking about herself getting away before Nick had stopped her.

Then suddenly, pounding footsteps came rumbling down the hallway and at first, Nick was too numb to move, but he felt someone lift him to his feet and he broke out of his grief.

"Professor, we have to get out of here," said the soldier holding him.

Cutter snapped back to reality at that moment.

"NO! NO! Blast that door open! The beasts, they're in there. We have to kill them and pull…my friend out of there!"

The soldier nodded and signaled to his men. Cutter stepped away, his eyes, drenched in tears.

"Hurry! Hurry!" He yelled.

Bullets tore through the door and once opened, they rushed in shooting at anything that moved. Cutter ducked in and saw Stephen's body on the ground, covered in blood and to his disgust, ripped open. Still, Stephen was alive. He had to get him out of there so he pulled him by the arms and dragged him out into the hallway. Stephen's screams of agony mixed with the sound of gunfire had been a horrific sound that Cutter didn't think he could ever erase from his memories.

Once out in the hallway, he cradled his friend's head. He felt the tremors of pain and ragged breathing through his own body, through to his burdened soul. Stephen tightly grabbed onto Nick's arms, needing some kind of purchase to fight off the pain. Nick couldn't bring himself to let go either.

Stephen's breathing sounded wet, choked and weaved within it were groans that bellowed. He looked up and smiled. Nick found himself smiling back. Anyone looking upon the scene would have thought them both mad, but Nick understood. Even though deep in his intellect, he knew that Stephen was beyond help, that the army had been too many minutes too late, there was this unspoken understanding that they both had a second chance to make amends.

"You idiot," Nick said his voice riddled with emotion. "Why'd you go and do such a stupid thing?"

Stephen clenched his eyes closed, arched and shook with pain.

"H…had to. Couldn't…let y…you have all the glory, now could I?" Stephen said as he grunted, wiping the smile from his face.

Then the moment was over and reality intervened because it couldn't be avoided. Stephen looked into his friend's eyes and knew that he didn't have long to say what he needed and wanted to say to him.

"I'm…sorry," Stephen said. "I shouldn't have trusted Helen…"

"She used us both, but you were right…it was my fault too…I…I was angry. I felt betrayed and I dismissed you when I shouldn't have. I let my own blinders about Helen, about everything get the best of me," Nick said. "I'm sorry I let this happen."

Stephen gave him a soft, non-accusatory and confused expression.

"You…didn't let this happen...Nick... I brought this on myself…I know that now…I…don't regret this…w…what I did…first…thing I did that made any sense…I couldn't let you die. Not after everything…it just wasn't right…"

Stephen trembled with the pain, squeezed Nick's arm so tight, he thought he would break it. Stephen then moaned, his fight for breath coming in gasps.

"D…don't waste y…your life like I did…let Claudia go…let me go…p…promise me…"

Nick was fighting back the tears that were threatening at the helplessness he felt at watching his friend die in his arms, as inevitable as it was.

"P…promise me…" Stephen repeated, his breathing a struggling wheeze now.

"I promise," Nick finally said.

Stephen nodded and Nick felt his body relaxing against him, signaling that Stephen was letting go.

"We…all…right, mate?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeh, we're all right," Nick acknowledged.

Stephen then tried to take in a few more breaths, but the effort was moot. He exhaled and the trembling stopped.

Nick was, at first, shocked by the stillness then at the silence brought on by Stephen's ceased breathing. The military had finally finished their assault on the beasts, but Nick had barely registered it.

"Professor? We have to leave now."

Nick looked up.

"In a minute…I'll catch up."

The men then left and Nick found himself absently rocking Stephen's body in his lap, unable to let go at that moment. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to weep over the body of his friend. He allowed himself to mourn the lost opportunities, the comrade who had fought every monster they had faced with the skill of a hunter and a tracker, and more importantly, the mate who had shared more than a pint or two with him during the eight years he had lived with the loss of his, he now realized, duplitious wife. Stephen had been misled as he had by Helen and it had cost his life. Nick knew he would ache from that loss for the rest of his life.

FIN. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed reading it.